Most of the rules an Anchorage apartment owner must follow come from one state law: the Alaska Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, codified at AS 34.03. It sets hard limits on deposits, fixed notice periods for entry, rent increases and terminations, and a short deadline for returning deposits, while the Municipality of Anchorage adds its own registration requirement only for short-term rentals.
The summaries below follow the Alaska Department of Law’s handbook, The Alaska Landlord & Tenant Act: What It Means to You, and the Alaska Court System’s landlord-tenant publication PUB-30, both of which cite the statute sections involved.
Why state law does most of the work in Anchorage
Anchorage is a home-rule municipality formed on September 15, 1975, when the City of Anchorage and the Greater Anchorage Area Borough merged. For conventional long-term leases, AS 34.03 is the rulebook owners work from, whether the building is a Midtown walk-up or a larger complex in East Anchorage, and the two official guides above are the plainest summaries of it.
The state guidance on rent increases focuses on timing rather than amount: what matters is how and when a change is communicated, which is why notice periods deserve an owner’s closest attention.
Security deposits: caps, pets and trust accounts
Alaska’s deposit rules are specific, and they are among the most common sources of disputes:
- Two-month cap. Under AS 34.03.070, security deposits and prepaid rent together may not exceed two months’ rent. The cap does not apply to units renting for more than $2,000 per month.
- Pet deposits. A landlord may collect an additional deposit of up to one more month’s rent for pets. Service animals are excluded.
- Where the money goes. Deposits and prepaid rent must be held in a trust account at a bank or savings and loan association, or with a licensed escrow agent.
- Return deadline. The landlord must send an itemized statement and any refund within 14 days after the tenancy ends and the tenant delivers possession. The deadline extends to 30 days if deductions are taken for damage beyond normal wear and tear, or if the tenant did not give proper notice of moving out.
For an owner buying or selling a building, the trust-account requirement means deposits should be accounted for and transferred cleanly at closing, not netted informally against the purchase price.
Entry, rent changes and ending a tenancy
Notice periods under the Act are short but strict. The ones owners use most often:
- Entering a unit: 24 hours’ notice, stating when the landlord will come, for purposes such as repairs, inspections or showing the unit (AS 34.03.140).
- Raising rent on a month-to-month tenancy: at least 30 days’ notice before the increase takes effect.
- Ending a month-to-month tenancy: 30 days’ written notice (AS 34.03.290).
- Unpaid rent: a seven-day written notice to quit (AS 34.03.220). If the tenant does not pay or leave, the landlord proceeds through the court’s eviction process.
- Other breaches: the handbook describes a 10-day notice for breach of the tenant’s duties, a five-day notice for illegal activity or unpaid utilities, and a shorter notice for intentional damage.
Because these are written-notice requirements, a building’s records matter. A buyer reviewing an Anchorage property will usually ask for copies of any outstanding notices and the status of any pending eviction cases.
Anchorage’s short-term rental registration
The main city-level rule to know is recent. The Assembly adopted AO 2025-115(S-2), and the Municipality announced in December 2025 that owners who rent units for fewer than 30 consecutive days must register their short-term rentals. The requirement explicitly covers apartments and condos rented nightly or weekly. Registration is free and online. Units leased for 30 days or longer are not covered.
An owner who furnishes a few units in a building for travelers or seasonal workers falls under this program for those units, even though the rest of the building remains governed only by state landlord-tenant law.
Practical points for Anchorage owners
- Keep deposits in a proper trust account and track pet deposits separately from the two-month cap.
- Calendar the 14-day and 30-day deposit deadlines from the date possession is returned.
- Use written notices with dates, and keep copies; nearly every remedy in the Act depends on them.
- If any units are rented for under 30 days, confirm they are registered with the Municipality.
- Review lease forms against the Department of Law handbook before renewals, especially deposit and notice clauses.
Tenant rules follow the building when it changes hands, so they shape any sale. Our guide to selling rental property with tenants in place covers how leases and deposits transfer. You can also compare conditions statewide on our Alaska market page, or read about selling an apartment building in Anchorage on our city page.
